The Judges Panel

About Patience Stevens:

As the producer of Top Billing, I am very hands on every week putting together the show and overseeing every second of content. I also assist in producing and overseeing content on other shows such as Pasella, Seskhona and Top Travel.

I have a B.A. in Drama (Wits) and English Honours (UNISA). I love to sing and potter on the piano and would have loved to have been a performer, opera singer or ballet dancer but I was simply not good enough – so I get great pleasure from celebrating other people’s achievements and expertise in the performing arts from behind the camera. My job is all consuming but I am basically training people all the time. Once you have Top Billing on your CV it is something that makes you an asset in any business and a gem in your own.

The thing I love most about my job is highlighting success – showing what can be done and has been done by South Africans – and by achievers all over the world to make a significant contribution to improving lifestyle, whilst conserving and protecting our eco and cultural heritage.

I have had the following nominations and awards: SAFTA Award for best magazine show 2007 for Top Billing , SAFTA Award for Best magazine Show 2009 for Pasella – Crystal Award for Top Billing 2009, Nedbank BWA Regional Winner in Entrepreneur category in 2004, CEO Magazine Winner 2009 Most Influential Woman in Business and Government in category Communications, Media, TV, Radio and Press Sector.

The best piece of advice I have received is Never give up. I went to church and the pastor quoted Winston Churchill giving a speech of only three words at a prize giving ceremony – “Never give up”. It is something I have read often in advice from entrepreneurs and it has always kept me going. They say 50% of the choices we make are right and 50 % are wrong. It is important to make decisions, learn and move on from the incorrect ones and build on the right ones, and to stay focused on one’s main goals.

My favourite quote is “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender – that is strength.” Arnold Schwarzenegger

About Jeannie D:

The famous Arabian tale goes something like this… Aladdin rubbed the lamp three times and out popped a ‘Genie’ and granted him three wishes. In today’s story, Cape Town’s very own Jeannie D is granting her own wishes and certainly making them come true. The stars are the limit for this girl…

Born and bred in Johannesburg, Jeannie knew from a young age that performing was her forte; as soon as she turned 12 she auditioned at The National School of the Arts (drama) and honed in on her acting and vocal skills. She accomplished and successfully managed to secure a number of lead roles in several theatre productions and a variety of commercials – such as inflight videos and as a poster girl for SAA. At 18 she enrolled at RAU where she studied a BA in Communications, joined the campus radio station RAU Radio, and managed to win the Miss RAU competition in 2002, all in a short period of time.

Looking for a new challenge, Jeannie packed her bags and relocated to the Mother City. With acting and radio experience under her belt, she happened to be in the right place at the right time when Good Hope FM was looking for new talent. Jeannie started off on the graveyard shift on a weekend slot as well as working as a daytime news reader – and within two months she was given one of the top shows in radio, which was fittingly called The Jeannie D Show.

She has fulfilled her dream by working in two of her favourite mediums. She left radio in September 2006 to pursue her television career full-time - and she hasn’t looked back since.

About Eugene Khoza:

Khoza is well-known to South African TV audiences as co-host of the SABC1 sports magazine show Countdown 2010, which ran from 2008 to 2010. He is equally recognised for his comic skills and he has tickled the funny bones of diverse audiences around the country with his multilingual delivery and incisive humour that riffs on South Africa’s many cultures.

His rise in the comedy world began when he reached the semi-finals of the local Laugh Out Loud comedy competition and won the Ricoffy Comedy Challenge. He went on to form part of the line-up for Arts Alive 2007 and performed in the country’s biggest comedy shows, Blacks Only and the Heavyweight Comedy Jam. He was the host (along with Trevor Noah) of the reality competition The AXE Sweet Life in 2009. In 2010 he joined the talk show Tonight with Trevor Noah as a writer and cast member. Eugene has also successfully sold out his debut one man show KHOZA CAN!